South Yorkshire regeneration specialist ‘performing strongly’

The annual general meeting of M J Gleeson plc, which specialises in acquiring land to build housing and leisure projects, heard that the firm has completed 314 sales in the five months to November - compared with 259 in the same period in 2014.

The meeting, held in London on Friday, was told that the Government’s Help to Buy scheme remained popular during this period, with 53 per cent of customers taking advantage of it.

Chairman Dermot Gleeson said: “Gleeson Homes has performed strongly in the five months to November 2015. The division currently has 44 active sites, compared with 39 at this time last year. A significant number of sites are due to open and management expects the number of active sites to be approaching 50 by June 2016.

“Gleeson Homes currently has a land pipeline of 7,717 plots, of which 4,003 are owned and 3,714 are conditionally purchased, along with a further 961 plots actively being considered.

“The outlook for the division continues to be very encouraging, with strong customer demand in all regions, supported by improved mortgage availability.”

He added: “In the first five months of the current financial year, Gleeson Strategic Land has performed significantly ahead of the corresponding period last year, selling two sites with planning permission for a combined total of 405 residential units and a site with consent for commercial use on 112.7 thousand square metres.”